Thermal conversion is a process in which, by the application of heat, large hydrocarbon molecules are broken into smaller molecules with a lower boiling point. These operations are carried out in the industry of crude oil refining by plants such as a visbreaker, coker, and hydrocracker for obtaining intermediate or light cuts of higher value, from heavy residues of lower commercial value.
It is well known that the fouling potential of a fluid can be estimated and characterized by the concentration of the dispersed phase, particularly by the concentration of the dispersed phase present in a specific size range. In hydrocarbon systems in particular, it has been recognized that the concentration of asphaltenes (i.e., carbon particles or opaque species) with linear dimension greater than about 1 micron in visbroken tars is a good indication of the fouling potential of the material.
Therefore, there is a need to provide a simplified, automated system and method that can easily be used to carry out optical analysis of visbroken tars and other fluid samples in order to characterize and quantify the concentration of particles within the fluid sample with high accuracy and reproducibility.